By AMANDA PAZORNIK
The Orange County Register
Wednesday, April 16, 2008

A Monday night meeting assures residents the park is on track for Aliso Canyon Community Park.

Dog owners may have to wait awhile before they have a designated spot to let their dogs run free, but the Aliso Viejo Community Association assured its members Monday that a dog park is still in the plans for Aliso Canyon Community Park.

The board of directors reviewed and discussed a proposed list of amenities for the undeveloped area near Wood Canyon, which could include workout equipment along hiking trails, a children's play area, a parking lot, a community garden with picnic tables and a dog park.

Following recommendations from the Parks and Landscape Committee, the AVCA board will need to approve or make changes to the suggestions and finalize the list with a vote.

The board could take action at its next meeting May 12, said AVCA President Ross Chun.

"The community is excited," he said. "There is a new confidence that the things they've been asking for in the last three years will start happening."

Once the board approves the proposed amenities, the next step is to have engineers and developers look at the available space and draw up cost estimates, Chun said. The board then will use those estimates to start the budgeting process.

He added that the board doesn't want to stray too far from the original master plan for the park, which was established more than 10 years ago, and suggests development should be completed in three phases. At this point, the board could not determine which phase would include the dog park.

"We need to get something current for the phases," Chun said. "Part of it has to do with a good development plan from the engineers. We're going to rely on their expertise to say 'you should develop this first.'"

In an effort to include community input, the board plans to organize a series of hour-long nature walks during the summer for members and their families and pets. The Saturday walks would be led by a board or committee member and start at ACCP.

"We're pretty excited about this," Chun said. "It goes hand-in-hand with the city's walkability campaign and really supports it. It's time to start getting community input and really discussing what we're going to do out there."

Jan Martin, an Aliso Viejo resident who started the Friends of the Aliso Viejo Dog Park Web site in 2005, said if the dog park is eventually built, she will use the site to garner interest and focus attention on its location.

"I hope to rally the supporters and perhaps use the Friends of the Aliso Viejo Dog Park to raise funds for additional dog park amenities," she said.